The evidence revealed the extent to which gardaí were prepared to go to bring highly dubious prosecutions. The Court of Criminal Appeal's decision that the Donegal publican, Mr Frank Shortt, suffered a miscarriage of justice is possibly the most serious indictment of the Garda Síochána handed down by the courts, writes Jim Cusack, Security Editor
Mr Frank Shortt's successful miscarriage of justice application to the Court of Criminal Appeal has provided a foretaste of some of the extraordinary allegations of crimes and misdeeds involving members of the Garda in Donegal. It is one of a number of allegations to be examined under the Morris Inquiry which started work last week and will investiage the activities of certain gardaí in Donegal.
The evidence given during Mr Shortt's application to the Appeal Court revealed the extent to which gardaí were prepared to go to bring highly dubious prosecutions.
In Mr Shortt's appeal, evidence emerged of a concerted, at times bizarre, conspiracy to plant drugs and manufacture evidence in order to secure his conviction for allowing his premises to be used for the sale of drugs.
The context, in 1992, was that certain gardaí wished to be seen to be acting against the then high-profile "rave" dance scene where ecstasy was supposed to be widely used. Gardaí in Donegal, it emerged, wished to attract attention and kudos by leading the way in bringing a prosecution against one of these alleged venues.
They chose Mr Shortt's Point Inn, at Quigley's Point, and placed the premises under "surveillance" between June and August 1992.
Evidence given to the Appeal Court revealed that this surveillance exercise did not produce any significant evidence that could be used to mount a prosecution.
Gardaí involved in the case then allegedly resorted to other methods. Witnesses alleged in the Court of Criminal Appeal that the methods used included planting drugs and using people who were effectively acting as agents provocateurs to seek out drugs.
These activities and then a further campaign of fabricating and altering statements led to Mr Shortt's prosecution.
The Court of Appeal heard that Mr Shortt declined the offer of a "semi-deal" by which he would plead guilty at the District Court and receive a lenient sentence. He maintained his innocence from the outset. As a result his case was taken to the next highest court, the Circuit Court, where Garda evidence led to his conviction and a sentence of three years' imprisonment.
This was a truly devastating blow to Mr Shortt, his family and business.
He and his family might have been left to suffer had not a set of circumstances occurred in January 1999, arising from Det Garda Noel McMahon's heavy drinking and separation from his wife, Sheenagh, a key witness in the appeal hearing.
At the start of 1999, the detective garda allegedly made a number of threats to his ex-wife, who had become aware of some of the activities her husband had become involved in.
Encouraged by her sister, Mrs McMahon made a complaint to other gardaí.
Her subsequent interviews with these detectives, as heard in evidence in the Shortt case, contained remarkable allegations about the Point Inn and also that her husband had been engaged in manufacturing and planting explosives in Donegal and Co Tyrone.
Many of the other issues to be examined by the Morris Tribunal were also alluded to in evidence in the Shortt case.
The key issues to be examined by the tribunal - in addition to the Point Inn case and the allegations about the explosives - surround the "McBrearty" case, which involved the death of Mr Richard Barron. A variety of other allegations including falsification of evidence and conspiracy to pervert the course of justicewill also be examined.
The inquiry will attempt to determine the extent of the alleged conspiracy among gardaí and whether they planted explosives, of their own manufacture, on seven specified dates in 1993 and 1994.
In these instances it is alleged that certain gardaí planted the explosives and then pretended to have information from agents within the IRA leading to their "discovery". In each instance, the "discoveries" were accompanied by what appeared to be some well-timed leaks to journalists about these operations.
If these allegations are upheld in the Morris Inquiry, gardaí could find themselves before the Special Criminal Court where the State still hears cases involving the use of terrorist weapons such as explosives. One or two gardaí have appeared in this court in the past for assisting the IRA but none has ever appeared on charges of planting explosives, particularly across the Border in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland.
It is even possible - though unlikely as the State would probably prefer to use extra-jurisdictional legislation - that gardaí could face extradition to Northern Ireland to face charges in the two instances where explosives were allegedly planted in Strabane, Co Tyrone.
These alleged events all occurred during a period when the Garda was accountable only to government and the courts. Unlike most other police forces in the West, it has not been subject to any independent regulatory mechanism with significant powers.
The vista of corruption concerning the gardaí in Donegal was sufficient to prompt the Government to set up not only the Morris Inquiry but also to begin moves towards setting up an Independent Garda Inspectorate.